The Politics Thread

[Roman]

http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/presi...-his-bully-pult

[gloryforixseal]

Its not bad, but personally I was hoping for something with vertical take-off, more of a hovercar, because this looks like the sort of thing I would be guaranteed to kill myself in. Still, its nice to know I live in the future at last.

[Greg's GL]

Mr. Fraken is been declared the winner of the Senate seat....so....

I am not liking this filibuster-proof majority already. There are several issues that the Dems have mis-stepped lately, and if they don't watch themselves it will be hell come next year.

Aside from that, the Republicans will have a hard time convincing people of their "family values" mantra, as they keep falling prey to temptation. Like a lot of us. They should have never claimed to be any stronger - morally - than anyone else is. So both parties could be gettin a bite in the ass on election day 2010.

[UCLAN]

agree with opinion on the republicans....as for the filibuster proof 60---don't count on it. Dems run the gamut of the spectrum and are likely to vote their conscience rather than strict party line. It will be interesting to see what happens.

[Max]

I'm surprised that I'm the first one to post about this, but I can't believe how stupid Palin was in choosing to resign as governor. Politically, this makes no sense at all. In fact, the only "logical" reason behind this decision is that she has concluded her political career is over and instead has decided to become very wealthy in the private sector (by becoming a talk show host or milking her celebrity in some other way).

I'm a Republican that has always disliked Palin, because of the huge damage she caused to McCain. (However, I do believe that the personal attacks Democrats made against her were some of the most viscious I have ever seen.) Although her behavior has always been erratic, this crazy decision really takes the cake.

Yet, if I was a Democrat, I would not be so thrilled about today's bombshell announcement. Prior to today, Palin was the clear front-runner for the 2012 GOP nomination. (And as the nominee, she would have gotten crushed in a general election.) Now, however, her chances of getting the nomination are slim to none (as nobody in the Republican establishment will want to embrace her). This, in turn, means that the GOP may nominate a much stronger candidate to run against Obama.

Edited July 4, 2009 by Max

[Roman]

Max, I was going to finally give you some credit, but then something ended up happening.

This poster at a site I go to actually put it in good context:

"If she can't handle criticism from bloggers, then how could she handle al-Qaeda? And conservatives like Greta should stop complaining about attacks on her and her family because they started the trend by holding her family out as public political props, and have never stopped. I'm not condoning the personal attacks in any way -- we avoided them at C&L and kept our criticism focused on her abilities (or lack thereof) and her public behavior as a candidate and a public official. It's up to you to decide how she's been treated.

But conservatives are total hypocrites on this issue and the media allows them to get away with it. They've made their living out of smearing anyone on the left. The Clintons have been subjected to the lowest attacks possible. I haven't seen anyone write widely published books that calls her a lesbian, or have I missed that one? Or that she murdered someone like, oh...Vince Foster.

On the September 19 and 20 broadcasts of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh resurrected his scurrilous suggestion that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) had then-deputy White House counsel Vincent Foster murdered while she was first lady.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. And then we can talk about the scurrilous and wingnutty "birther" attacks on President Obama, but you get my point."

[bellcurve]

Or maybe she has a skeleton in her closet(i.e. tax evasion). That's where I'm placing my wager.

The Republicans need to push their social issues aside and focus on the bigger issue: the country's economic woes. I honestly wasn't too thrilled with Obama as a nominee(I was still a huge hardcore Hillary fan), but when McCain picked Palin and seeing her during her interview with Charlie Gibson, that scared me enough to go running to Obama.

The Repubs need to focus LESS on social issues and more on the economy. A fiscally sound Conservative candidate that doesn't have a history of pork barrel spending will get the Republicans the 2012 win. That's the only way it will happen. A Republican that focuses more on social issues in his platform will lose.

[Roman]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/11/cheney-told-cia-to-hide-p_n_230093.html

Cheney Hid Torture Program From Congress.

[Greg's GL]

Man, it's a shame to see what this thread used to be and what it is today.

Too bad that everyone couldn't get along and discuss/debate politics without it getting so personal. It's a sad thing. But I think it speaks to the state of political discussion as a whole in the US. No one wants to see the other side and what's worse - they don't have to. The right watch FOX and the left watch MSNBC. The right listen to Rush and the left to Air America.

No one discussing differences, just reinforcing your own beliefs while thinking the "other guys" are idiots.

<sigh>

[UCLAN]

I would have to agree with you. It is really sad. This board is a reflection of what's going on in our country today. I miss everyone here. But you're right, I'm to afraid to post what I feel for fear of being lambasted. Oh well, it was fun while it was good.

Edited August 18, 2009 by UCLAN

[Greg's GL]

I wouldn't say that I'm afraid to post what I feel in this forum - never was. No one should have to apologize for believing in what they feel - politically or otherwise.

I made no bones about my dislike for the current state of GL. Even when everyone else was singing the praises of Jill Lorie HACK, I disagreed. And no one spat on me because of it. I was probably one of the last holdouts for MAB's Y&R, and no one called me out for that. This is no different.

For instance, I think Obama needs to grab control of the health care debate. It's been hijacked by sound bites from the Republican crazies, and to make matters worse, the sound bites aren't even accurate. The media is feeding on this like a rabid dog on road kill and someone has to tone down the misinformation. He is failing when it comes to getting the plan out to the people and explaining what he wants to do. It's actually not a bad plan, IMO. And something has to be done for all the people that have lost jobs and can't afford COBRA. What about the working poor? How can they afford good health insurance? There is a desparate need for this legislation, but the message is getting lost. The bill will fail unless the White House takes drastic action to speak the truth about their plans and speak it directly to the people.

So hopefully some discussion can begin without the name-calling and pouting just because someone doesn't agree with your point of view.

[Roman]

Ted Kennedy dies.

The end of Camelot.

R.I.P., sir. Your job is done.

[Max]

I am curious as to what others think about Tuesday's election results.

Unless you are an extreme partisan, one has to admit that the Democrats had a devastating night. In Virginia--which is a critical swing state that voted for Obama last year--the Republican trounced the Democrat by 18 percentage points. (This showing was so horrendous that the Democratic candidate even lost in the heavily liberal northern part of the state.) In New Jersey--which is hands down one of the most Democratic states in the country--the incumbent Democratic governor lost re-election by nearly five points, resulting in the first time in twelve years that a Republican was able to win a statewide election there. (As a resident of New Jersey, I still predicted a Democratic victory. In fact, I never thought a Republican would win a statewide election again for my entire lifetime.)

The only bright spot for Democrats was the fact that they won a special election for a House seat located in upstate New York. (This actually marks the first time in over 130 years that a Democrat will represent that particular Congressional District.) This Democratic victory was solely the result of the stupidity of the far right, who decided to ditch a moderate Republican in favor of an ultra-conservative (and anybody who is far to the right has no chance to win an election anywhere in New York state).

The only other significant election of the night was the race for New York City mayor. The arrogant and egotistical Mike Bloomberg decided to run for a third term, despite the fact that New Yorkers twice approved a measure that would limit mayors and members of the city council to two terms. (Bloomberg was able to change this law not by going to the voters, but rather by asking the self-interested city council to repeal it.) Bloomberg spent over $100 million of his own money in the race, which was 14 times more than his little known Democratic opponent spent. Yet, despite his lavish spending--as well as his huge lead in the polls--Bloomberg won a third term by only a five percent margin. (Even though I am a Republican, I would have voted for Bloomberg's Democratic opponent had I been a resident of New York City; I just thought the sleazy way Bloomberg was able to run for a third term was far too egotistical and over the top, even by normal political standards.)

[aMLCproduction]

Not happy with Obama right now. AT ALL!! Where r the jobs? Sick of my tax dollars being wasted for wall street.

[Max]

Unless you are an extreme Democratic partisan, an objective analysis of Obama's first year in office would have to come to the conclusion that he has been quite a disappointment (especially when all the hype at the beginning of the year was that he would be the next Lincoln or FDR). Likewise, only an extreme Republican partisan would say that he has been a complete failure. Again, the word that best summaries Obama's first year performance is "disappointing."

Even though I believe that Obama will continue to be a disappointment throughout the remainder of his term, I still have a sinking feeling that he will win re-election: For one thing, it is extemely likely that the economy will have recovered significantly by 2012 (and not because of anything Obama did, but rather because the natural economic cycle will bring the economy to the point of recovery by then). Furthermore, and most importantly, Obama will win re-election becuase presidential races almost always are decided on the basis of each candidate's charisma and likeability (and simply put, I don't know of any Republican who could compete with Obama on these scores).

However, the economy will probably still be in the doldrums in 2010. As a result, I expect the Republicans to do very well in next year's mid-term elections. (Although, due to their very low numbers in Congress at the present time, it will be nearly impossible for them to regain the majority in either the House or Senate.)

Edited November 22, 2009 by Max